Bio 530B Conservation Policy

Instructors: Gary Kleppel ( gkleppel@albany.edu ) 442-4338 Office: Biology 209
George Robinson ( grobins@albany.edu ) 442-4302 Office: Biology 253
Tom Birkland ( birkland@albany.edu ) 442-5243 Office: Milne 300

The Syllabus

Course objectives:
•  To familiarize students with the policy process and some approaches to policy analysis.
•  To examine some current issues in conservation from a policy perspective.

Approach:
The course is divided into two parts – I. Policy Analysis and II. Policy in Practice. The Policy Analysis sequence is composed of lectures on the process of policy development, the use economic valuation in the development of environmental policy and the methods and applications of systems dynamics modeling for conservation policy analysis. The Policy in Practice sequence focuses on some current issues in conservation that are strongly policy driven. These include land use and sprawl, approaches to land/habitat conservation and protection, invasive species and endangered species. This set of issues is by no means complete but it does hit some of the more important and current topics and it allows us to take advantage of local expertise in these areas.

Each lecture will be presented by an expert in the topic of the evening. While the approaches of different lecturers will vary, students should be prepared for class by reading the materials and doing any exercises that are assigned. Generally classes will consist of a lecture, a discussion and/or a problem solving exercise.

In addition to lectures and discussions, the class will be divided into three groups. Each group will identify a topic in conservation and explore the policy issues associated with it. The group will analyze the existing policy associated with the issue, determine its strengths and weaknesses, devise policy alternatives to remediate the weaknesses and project the extent of improvements in conservation achieved by the new policy(ies).

Grades:
Grades will be based in part on participation and the competence with which each student uses the reading materials and tools provided by the instructors to contribute to the overall educational experience. In addition, grades will be based on the group project . Participation and project will each contribute 50% of the grade.

Schedule of Lectures